Guy Asks The Internet For Advice After He Waged A War On Neighbors Who Keep Harassing And Blackmailing Him
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In many cases, neighbors can make or break your living situation. Some of them can become your close friends that will always have your back no matter what, while others you may never even talk to, and some… well, some neighbors can singlehandedly turn your life into a living nightmare. Today, let’s talk about the last category.
A few years ago, an Imgur user named ChefShwasty shared a story about his own neighbors that turned out to be, let’s say, not the nicest ones. Strap yourselves in and get ready ’cause this one is gonna be quite a ride.
More info: twitter.com
“On March 19th, we got new neighbors”
One fateful day, ChefShwasty and his girlfriend got new neighbors. The couple was quite used to people moving in and out of the building since it happened quite often. “I gave them my phone number and told them that if they needed anything, please don’t hesitate to ask. I also mentioned that I have an electronic drum kit (the words “drinking” in her text autocorrected from “drumming”), and that I only really use it a few times a week, for half an hour, around 4-o’clock when I get off work. I asked her that if is ever a bother, or wakes up the baby, or if we’re ever too loud at ALL, to please let us know,” the user writes in his post. The man also mentions that he previously had done the same with older tenants, but had never gotten any complaints.
“I gave them my phone number and told them that if they needed anything, please don’t hesitate to ask”
Image credits: ChefShwasty
The next morning, the man received a message from them asking to hold off drumming for an hour or so. The funny thing is, at the time of receiving the message, he was slicing onions. No drumming, just cutting vegetables. “That was the first text. What follows is a story of harassment, stalking, and blackmail,” the user notes.
“This is my Yamaha electric kit. She’s my baby”
Image credits: ChefShwasty
“This is my Yamaha electric kit. She’s my baby. I saved for a year to get this, because not being able to drum was slowly driving me insane. It’s a form of therapy for me. It’s relaxing. And, what’s more, is that I felt good at it. I’m shy and introverted by nature, but drumming was the one thing I felt good enough to show other people,” ChefShwasty explains.
Texts like these complaining about the drumming became frequent. The guy even changed his drumming schedule to have some time for it when the neighbors weren’t home.
“Would you mind holding off drumming for about an hour?”
Image credits: ChefShwasty
One time, the man got a message complaining about the sounds while he was at work and his girlfriend was at home watching TV. “She later sent me a video of how loud it was, and I could barely make out dialogue on the TV,” the user wrote.
“Watcha watching? Sounds dramatic. ;)”
Image credits: ChefShwasty
One time, the man messaged the neighbors and warned them in advance that his friend was going to come over that night and he’d like to try out his electric kit. “If it gets too loud or too late, PLEASE let me know,” he wrote in the message.
“He demanded that we stop”
Image credits: ChefShwasty
His friend arrived around 4:30 PM and they didn’t go back into the back room until about 6:30. “Mind you, this is a Friday, and there’s lots of fiestas in our complex. Noise is not unusual. Within fifteen minutes, the man of the house (let’s call him… Mr. Whiny-pants) came sprinting up the stairs, and pounded on our door,” the man narrates. The neighbor was acting quite aggressive, to the point where the guy’s girlfriend was a bit nervous about him getting physical. “My friend and I immediately stopped and went out to play some NHL ’15,” the user notes.
Image credits: ChefShwasty
“I could use this thing without waking up my girlfriend sleeping in the next room”
Image credits: ChefShwasty
Image credits: ChefShwasty
The user proceeds: “Still, I would get these texts. To no end, I would oblige. Always. Without question. I would run into Mrs. Whiny-pants on occasion, and be pleasant and make small talk. Mr. Whiny-pants was rarely seen.” One time he got one of these texts while he was showing his parents his new studio. “I didn’t even play the kit. I just handed my dad (non-drummer) a stick and let him hit a few pads. I IMMEDIATELY got this text. The ridiculousness was ramping,” he adds.
Image credits: ChefShwasty
The messages didn’t stop
Image credits: ChefShwasty
Image credits: ChefShwasty
Image credits: ChefShwasty
One time, they received a message complaining about the TV volume when it was barely up. “There was NOTHING HAPPENING. I could hear their TV over ours, and they still complained,” he adds.
Soon enough, the author of the post found out that these neighbors were constantly complaining about them to the office. But because they’d never been late on rent and never had a complaint filed by anyone else, the office wasn’t doing anything about that.
Image credits: ChefShwasty
One day, the author warned his neighbors that he was going to have a band practice. “Wednesday. Really, it consisted of me and my guitarist friend playing through headphones. My girlfriend couldn’t hear us 10 feet away,” he wrote. He told them that it would last from 6 to 8 PM and they agreed to it. At 7:38 PM, the guy received a message from the neighbors asking him to stop drumming. The guy politely replied by telling them that it would last a bit longer.
“Within seconds, Mr. Whiny-pants was POUNDING on the ceiling with his fists as hard as he could, enough to possibly cause damage to the ceiling itself. Then, I heard sprinting up the stairs outside. He kicked our door,” the author of the post narrates.
Mr. Whiny-pants was very angry, his face was all red, and he was clenching his fists. “He started laying into me about how I can’t be doing what I was doing, and shrieked on and on. I explained to him my previous courtesies, and lamented about how I couldn’t even do this once,” the author adds. Then, the man stormed down the stairs and warned the guy that he would regret this.
Image credits: ChefShwasty
One time, he even found this note stuck on his door
Image credits: ChefShwasty
The next day, Mrs. Whiny-pants came up to their door while the guy was at work and spoke to his girlfriend. The woman explained that “this would’ve all never happened if we were just friends.” Then, she told her that they were planning on getting the cops involved soon since the office was ignoring their complaints.
“I know this may not seem like a big deal to you, but drumming has helped me through a lot of bad times in my life, and I feel grounded when I do it. And not only have they taken it from me, they flaunt it to me,” the author adds.
“I was in the front room when I got this text. Nowhere near an amp. All of my speakers were off. I was watching Rick and Morty quietly when I got this”
Image credits: ChefShwasty
Image credits: ChefShwasty
At this point, the author didn’t know what to do. He was feeling powerless in this situation since he and his girlfriend couldn’t afford to move out.
“Psychotic neighbors ask my complacency in lowering my volume, which I do for months until I’m near-silent, and now it looks like they’re trying to get us evicted. I had to share this with someone,” the author of the post finishes.
Turns out, this story has a follow-up
Long story short, with their constant manipulations and aggression, the neighbors finally got evicted from the apartment building.
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You let them run your life. Never let anyone else run your life. Be respectful but stand your ground. You have rights too.
He lives from paycheck to paycheck and it costs money to move. Getting evicted would mean he was homeless with no chance of finding another apartment, because getting first and last month's rent together all at once would be impossible.
But other neighbors were just as noisy. The Whinys were very noisy at times. He didn't do anything different, so it would be hard to evict him for this.
@C’est Moi while that is a pretty nice drum kit, OP had to save for a YEAR to get it. That’s paycheck to paycheck living right there. The other equipment is not quite as expensive. It’s obvious that the writer is passionate about music, and we should all be able to dedicate some of our spare time and money to our passions, even if we don’t have that much.
But there is no need in being too facilitating. Either he is being apologetic for something that causes no nuisance or he's not entirely truthful about how much sound it really makes. Respectively setting himself up for unnecessary complaints or actually needing to accept that drumming in an apartment is not the best idea. And with all the excuses this story is full of, I really still can't make out which one it is... His neighbors are of the whiny kind, but he really found his match. Those texts don't reveal much harmful behavior, if anything it shows he knows drumming does cause sounds to be heard. I'm at loss at this one.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
lives "pay check to pay check" but can afford an electric guitar, an amp and an electric drum kit? hmmmmmmm
This all happened in 2016, he posted 14 very long posts on Imgur about the whole thing. Here is the Anniversary post he made a few days ago, which probably is what prompted this article. there are links to all 14 original storyline posts he made. https://imgur.com/gallery/HFxWEMw
Tnx for linking - i LOOOVE it when those two guys are playing, laughing, because that NOISE, is really disturbing 👊🙉🙉🙉😂
Now that doesn't surprise me. Thanks, now that seals the deal in my verdict. He's as bad, if not worse as any whiny neighbor. Just leveled up on how to express himself. Getting depressed if he can't drum really set it up though.
It baffles me that when Mr. whiny was on a rampage, the defendant didn't record on his phon. He truly enabled this behavior, but at the same time I commend him for believing in the best in people. I've seen some things so I'm jaded. I guess many of us have to learn the hard way. But for those who haven't experienced it yet: establish boundaries and don't be submissive. Some people will try to find out just how much they can get away with.
I think that if he had pulled out his phone, Mr. Whiny could have gotten violent and then it may have not done him any good.
Entièrement d'accord
I can't imagine getting into such a long, drawn out and pointless exchange. I would have invited them both in to hear what the drumming actually sounded like in the apartment. I would have sent girlfriend plus one of them to hear what it sounded like in their place. End of story. Either there was a problem or there wasn't and that would have solved it.
A friend of mine did that and it didn't work. ☹ Not saying it wouldn't most of the time but just that it isn't a foregone conclusion sadly. These people were lying and they were determined to just cause trouble. They weren't prepared to be reasonable. Not sure that there is anything more he could have done with them, but he could maybe have done more by getting management or officialdom of some kind involved (in the UK local councils can be involved in noise complaints). So glad it worked out for him in the end, he actually sounds a lovely neighbour to have.
Nice.
Some neighbors— and people in general— just need someone to dislike. We have neighbors currently that dislike us for some reason. Still not sure exactly what we did, but it seems to be getting a little better because we're getting the polite wave again— but we hadn't gotten one in a couple years before this. I don't know if that's a thing everywhere, but here you wave to your neighbors. And don't call the cops because they leave their trailer on the street overnight when they leave their trailer on the street for up to a week sometimes... but yeah reason won't always work.
Yes, I'm sure they must have been a more efficient way to address this.
Check out his 14 episode saga he posted to Imgur. links to all 14 posts here https://imgur.com/gallery/HFxWEMw
I think Chef is the whiny part of this whole interaction. Judging by the story and the texts and the fact that he posted it more than a few times on imgur and had an anniversary post recently. That is very f-d up.
The only sound that can be heard from an electric guitar is thumping, and I once slept through jackhammering on the floor directly on top of mine. And he dealt with it for 4 years. It's also mentioned that he's shy, so he couldn't exactly go up and tell them...
A Random Panda +
The saddest part is that they probably felt entitled to harass him like this just because he had made the effort to introduce himself the first day, give his phone number and tell about his drum practice. This how some people react to politeness - like being polite to them give them permission to be absolutely rude to you.
Honestly, I thought so too. Given the environment he described and judging from their described behaviour, they totally seem like the type of people who wouldn't even notice anything, had he been a complete stranger from the start. The moment he gave his contacts was the moment he opened the door. Not blaming him, though, he was nice, he was just very unfortunate. How could have he known...
You let them run your life. Never let anyone else run your life. Be respectful but stand your ground. You have rights too.
He lives from paycheck to paycheck and it costs money to move. Getting evicted would mean he was homeless with no chance of finding another apartment, because getting first and last month's rent together all at once would be impossible.
But other neighbors were just as noisy. The Whinys were very noisy at times. He didn't do anything different, so it would be hard to evict him for this.
@C’est Moi while that is a pretty nice drum kit, OP had to save for a YEAR to get it. That’s paycheck to paycheck living right there. The other equipment is not quite as expensive. It’s obvious that the writer is passionate about music, and we should all be able to dedicate some of our spare time and money to our passions, even if we don’t have that much.
But there is no need in being too facilitating. Either he is being apologetic for something that causes no nuisance or he's not entirely truthful about how much sound it really makes. Respectively setting himself up for unnecessary complaints or actually needing to accept that drumming in an apartment is not the best idea. And with all the excuses this story is full of, I really still can't make out which one it is... His neighbors are of the whiny kind, but he really found his match. Those texts don't reveal much harmful behavior, if anything it shows he knows drumming does cause sounds to be heard. I'm at loss at this one.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
lives "pay check to pay check" but can afford an electric guitar, an amp and an electric drum kit? hmmmmmmm
This all happened in 2016, he posted 14 very long posts on Imgur about the whole thing. Here is the Anniversary post he made a few days ago, which probably is what prompted this article. there are links to all 14 original storyline posts he made. https://imgur.com/gallery/HFxWEMw
Tnx for linking - i LOOOVE it when those two guys are playing, laughing, because that NOISE, is really disturbing 👊🙉🙉🙉😂
Now that doesn't surprise me. Thanks, now that seals the deal in my verdict. He's as bad, if not worse as any whiny neighbor. Just leveled up on how to express himself. Getting depressed if he can't drum really set it up though.
It baffles me that when Mr. whiny was on a rampage, the defendant didn't record on his phon. He truly enabled this behavior, but at the same time I commend him for believing in the best in people. I've seen some things so I'm jaded. I guess many of us have to learn the hard way. But for those who haven't experienced it yet: establish boundaries and don't be submissive. Some people will try to find out just how much they can get away with.
I think that if he had pulled out his phone, Mr. Whiny could have gotten violent and then it may have not done him any good.
Entièrement d'accord
I can't imagine getting into such a long, drawn out and pointless exchange. I would have invited them both in to hear what the drumming actually sounded like in the apartment. I would have sent girlfriend plus one of them to hear what it sounded like in their place. End of story. Either there was a problem or there wasn't and that would have solved it.
A friend of mine did that and it didn't work. ☹ Not saying it wouldn't most of the time but just that it isn't a foregone conclusion sadly. These people were lying and they were determined to just cause trouble. They weren't prepared to be reasonable. Not sure that there is anything more he could have done with them, but he could maybe have done more by getting management or officialdom of some kind involved (in the UK local councils can be involved in noise complaints). So glad it worked out for him in the end, he actually sounds a lovely neighbour to have.
Nice.
Some neighbors— and people in general— just need someone to dislike. We have neighbors currently that dislike us for some reason. Still not sure exactly what we did, but it seems to be getting a little better because we're getting the polite wave again— but we hadn't gotten one in a couple years before this. I don't know if that's a thing everywhere, but here you wave to your neighbors. And don't call the cops because they leave their trailer on the street overnight when they leave their trailer on the street for up to a week sometimes... but yeah reason won't always work.
Yes, I'm sure they must have been a more efficient way to address this.
Check out his 14 episode saga he posted to Imgur. links to all 14 posts here https://imgur.com/gallery/HFxWEMw
I think Chef is the whiny part of this whole interaction. Judging by the story and the texts and the fact that he posted it more than a few times on imgur and had an anniversary post recently. That is very f-d up.
The only sound that can be heard from an electric guitar is thumping, and I once slept through jackhammering on the floor directly on top of mine. And he dealt with it for 4 years. It's also mentioned that he's shy, so he couldn't exactly go up and tell them...
A Random Panda +
The saddest part is that they probably felt entitled to harass him like this just because he had made the effort to introduce himself the first day, give his phone number and tell about his drum practice. This how some people react to politeness - like being polite to them give them permission to be absolutely rude to you.
Honestly, I thought so too. Given the environment he described and judging from their described behaviour, they totally seem like the type of people who wouldn't even notice anything, had he been a complete stranger from the start. The moment he gave his contacts was the moment he opened the door. Not blaming him, though, he was nice, he was just very unfortunate. How could have he known...